The present invention relates to a handling unit for reelable cord-like goods, such as wire steel, or electric cables etc and more specifically to an integrated handling system for such goods in production lines.
According to Swedish Pat. No. 337 054 it is known to automatically reel cable or wire on a drum or reel. In order to improve the reeling or winding process the reel can be moved in the direction of its axis so that the cable can be wound evenly on the reel.
One disadvantage with such an arrangement is that when the reel has been filled, it has to be lowered down onto the floor, released and moved substantially manually to a new working position for further processing. Such full reels which may have a weight of several tons, are very difficult to handle and moving a reel by rolling it is both time-consuming and dangerous.
According to the published Swedish patent application No. 7901552-5 these disadvantages can be reduced by moving a reel in its axial direction along guide means from one working position to another. Furthermore, the entire stand carrying the reel can be moved forwards and backwards along rails or in the floor. This substantially reduces the number of reel loading and unloading operations and hence the necessary manual handling operations.
However, in spite of these improvements the reels must still be manually handled to a considerable extent on the floor, especially if the plant is large and includes a great number of mutually remote work stations. There is also still a need of big and heavy stand structures to carry the reels which increases the need of space and reduces the free areas required for manually handling the reels.
A further disadvantage with such known arrangements is the great risk of a loaded or unloaded reel falling from its stand, resulting in damage to it or injury to persons handling it. This can happen, inter alia, due to wear or faulty assembly of the locking device of a dismountable reel.
Another drawback with dismountable reel structures is the difficulty of achieving even and smooth rotation of the reel. If, for instance, a removable shaft or trunnions are used to keep the reel in its working position some play is needed between the shaft and the reel hub to enable mounting the reel in its working position. This play often causes erraticness in reel rotation.
It is also known to use fork trucks or the like for moving reels from one work station to another, but this is also complicated as well as space and time consuming.
Still another problem in the art of prior handling systems for cable reels is the difficulty of obtaining the precision required for fitting a reel into its proper working position at a work station, when it is rolled along the floor or conveyed by a truck.
The present invention, as defined in the appended claims, has the object of providing a solution to these problems.